


Growing Up (Means Having to Say Goodbye)

by GoodJanet



Category: Sabrina (1954)
Genre: Angst, Emotional, F/M, Kissing, Older Man/Younger Woman, Seduction, Slow Dancing, Suggestive Themes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-08
Updated: 2016-03-08
Packaged: 2018-05-25 11:46:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6193900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoodJanet/pseuds/GoodJanet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An extension of Linus and Sabrina's tennis court scene.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Growing Up (Means Having to Say Goodbye)

“It’s all in the family,” Linus murmurs, pulling her in close.

She swallows, and there’s so little space between them that he feels the gulp travel from her delicate throat and into her chest. Her rib cage press against him for a fraction of a second as a result, and he wonders how his brother could bear to promise her pretty things without the intention of following through.

“I wish David were here.”

Sabrina says it so quietly that he almost thinks he imagined it. But then she shifts subtly in his arms, and he knows he didn't.

“I know,” he replies.

There’s a lump in his throat, and he realizes that he’s falling in love with the girl, for that's all she really is. He slips his hand lower down her back until it's right at her delicate waist. She doesn’t stop him. They just keep swaying to the music, to David’s song.

Linus doesn’t full think out what he says next, but it comes out before he can think twice, “I need you, Sabrina.”

She picks her head up off his shoulder with the grace of a swan, eyes large and innocent. What was she seeing in his face? What were her clever eyes picking up?

“Need me? Whatever for?”

Linus does think it would be very polite to tell her exactly what he means. Sabrina cocks her head to peek over his shoulder while she waits for his answer. Always thinking of David, even when he was about to spill his heart out to her. He feels his heart break like David’s pair of champagne flutes. She smiles at him expectantly.

“Linus, what…?”

“Nothing,” he interrupts, grabbing her again before she could slip away in search of his brother. “It’s nothing. I have everything I need right here.”

The band changes songs and realization dawns on her. Did Linus have feelings for her too? Why that just couldn’t be possible. He and David had barely ever taken notice of her since they were children. David had kissed her when she was nine, and they had been close playmates in their school days. But Linus was much older than the pair of them, or at least it felt that way. He would only play on occasion, often stating he was “too old for that kid stuff.” And he would go back sunbathing with Chaucer and Keats while Sabrina and David played Marco Polo.

But here he was now, squeezing her as though she would disappear if he didn’t hold on to her and doing his best to appear stoic. It made her see things very differently.

“You could kiss me again, you know,” Sabrina says.

“I know,” he breathes into her ear. Despite her infatuation, he knows she would allow herself to be kissed.

She shivers at the prospect.

“You could kiss me on the lips.”

“That sounds lovely.”

His lips trail over her cheek, stopping just before her painted mouth. Silently, she begs him to keep going. When he doesn't, she tries again.

“Or my neck.”

“Has anyone ever kissed your neck before, Sabrina?”

“No.”

“I see.”

“Or maybe my, well…”

She trails off, suddenly embarrassed by her own train of thought. Linus moves away to look at her better. She was blushing.

“Go on,” he urges.

He isn’t going to take her up on her offer, but his curiosity has been piqued. Just what would this young woman offer to David's brother?

“It’s silly of me,” she says with a shake of her shorn head.

“You’re not silly. I take you very seriously.”

She contemplates him and laughs. “Oh, you wouldn't even want it anyway. All the boys say I’m too flat chested. There wouldn't have been a point to offering.”

Sabrina smiles at him after she finishes her thought, and Linus feels his dress pants tighten. He’s thankful for the lack of lighting on the tennis court. He tries not to think about how much she's filled out since graduating high school and studying in Paris.

“You don’t owe me anything, doll.”

She laughs again, louder.

“I don’t imagine your brother would ever say something gallant like that, would he? I always imagine he would have made a very good pirate in the olden days.”

Linus frowns. He was getting downright annoyed by all these comparisons.

“No. He wouldn’t. He take hold of you, like this.”

He pulls her in by her upper arm; she gasps in surprise.

“And he’d kiss you hard, until you couldn't breathe, like this.”

He demonstrates with a ferocity that leaves her breathless.

“And then he’d press you up against the nearest dark corner and make love to you for as long as you’d let him. Maybe even longer.”

The dark tone of his voice and the pictures he paints leave her feeling exhilarated. Would David really have his way with her like that? Would Linus? Quite suddenly, he’s leaning on her against the referee’s chair, and she can feel that he’s hard, even through the layers and layers of fabric of her dress. She blushes again.

"Oh, Linus!" she sighs.

The combination of the champagne and the music in the moonlight and Linus' promises make her feels as though she might faint. It makes Linus feel a little guilty. Perhaps he was laying it on too thick. Sabrina probably thought he was some perverted old man. Sabrina was probably right.

“Sabrina, I—”

“Shhh,” she whispers, placing a gloved hand over his mouth. “It’s alright.”

“I’m worse than he is,” Linus says.

She ignores his statement.

“Do you want to make love to me?”

“Terribly so, Sabrina.”

She nods sagely. His lips find her creamy neck and latch on, kissing and suckling and licking at her skin from her ear to her neckline. She sighs deeply. Doing so makes her feel extremely grown up and sophisticated. She was a young woman now, and young women had to deal with things like lovemaking and beaux with charm and grace.

“It wouldn’t be right to put ourselves on display on your tennis court, now would it?”

“No, I suppose not,” Linus chuckles, and it makes him look fifteen years younger.

He stands upright again, and she misses his warmth. She hopes he’ll do it again for her some time. As the silence stretches out, he moves further and further away from her. And for the first time in hours, there is more than a foot of empty air separating them. He tries to discreetly adjust the front of his pants.

“We should go back to the party.”

The way he says it makes her want to cry. He said that as though this was less of a “goodbye for now” and more of a “goodbye forever.” He offers her his elbow, and she takes it with tears in her eyes.

“Now don’t cry, honey. I’m not going to forget you.”

“Nor I you.”

He gives her a half smile and walks her placidly out of the Larabee's private recreation center.

They haven’t yet rejoined the party, and she already finds herself missing him.


End file.
